District of Clearwater council should give serious consideration of establishing a forestry working group as proposed in the town’s community economic development plan.
That was the recommendation from the local Healthy Forests/Healthy Communities committee to council on Feb. 21.
The committee also endorses formal communication with the Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources on re-establishing a Forest District office in Clearwater, spokesperson Bas Delaney told council.
Delaney was reporting on the results of a one-day Healthy Forests/Healthy Communities workshop held in Clearwater on Nov. 5.
“We want to build on the momentum and eventually change the way things are done,” he said.
Establishing a forestry working group was on the top of the list of short-term (one or two years) objectives developed by the workshop.
Other objectives would be to create a directory of small-scale wood processors and producers, hold a workshop on non-timber forest products, facilitate a workshop on access to capital for wood processors and producers, facilitate a workshop for local forest entrepreneurs, and increase the annual allowable cut for the Wells Gray Community Forest Corporation.
Healthy Forests/Healthy Communities is a province-wide initiative. About 30 or 40 community dialog sessions have been held at various locations across B.C.